FTC/DOJ Hearings to Focus on the Implications of Competition and Patent Law and Policy

Initial Hearing Scheduled for February 6, 2002

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The Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice today announced that their joint hearings on "Competition and Intellectual Property Law and Policy in the Knowledge-Based Economy" will begin on Wednesday, February 6, 2002 at 2:00 p.m. The primary focus of the hearings will be to examine the implications of competition and patent law and policy for innovation and other aspects of consumer welfare. The general public and press are invited to attend and view the proceedings. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis with an overflow room provided for hearings at the FTC. Written comments from interested parties may be submitted to the FTC. Available information on the initial hearing sessions, scheduled for February and March, follows below:

February 6: Welcome and Overview of Hearings

2:00 p.m.

FTC - Room 432

Timothy Muris, Chairman, Federal Trade CommissionCharles James, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Department of JusticeJames Rogan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U. S. Patent and Trademark OfficeThe Honorable Pauline Newman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Robert Pitofsky, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, and former Chairman of the Federal Trade CommissionQ. Todd Dickinson, Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White, and former Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Gerald Mossinghoff, Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and TrademarksRichard Gilbert [Power Point], Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Department of Justice Richard Levin, President, Yale University

Concurrent Sessions These sessions will lay the foundation for all future hearings discussions. They will provide essential background information and identify critical issues.

February 20: Economic Perspectives on Intellectual Property, Competition and Innovation

9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

FTC - Room 432

These sessions will explore what economic learning reveals, and does not answer, regarding the relationships between intellectual property and innovation, and between competition and innovation.

February 25 - 28: Business and Economic Perspectives on Real-World Experience with Patents

Thanks to the Competition Policy Center and the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology of the University of California at Berkeley, hearing sessions will take place at the Haas School of Business on the Berkeley campus.

Daily sessions will focus on business and other testimony regarding the "real-world" experience with patents and competition, as well as explore economic and business perspectives on intellectual property, competition, and innovation.

March 19 - 20: Business and Other Perspectives on Real-World Experience with Patents (FTC - Room 432)

Similar to the Berkeley sessions, these sessions will focus on testimony regarding the "real-world"experience with patents and competition.

Further information about these and subsequent hearings, expected to extend through June, will be posted on the FTC web site www.ftc.gov/opp/intellect/index.htm as it becomes available.

Contact Information

Media Contact:

Cathy MacFarlaneOffice of Public Affairs 202-326-3657

Staff Contact:

Susan DeSanti 202-326-2167

Robin Moore202-326-3133

Media Resources

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